Improvement in governors for steam-engines



UNITED STATES Taos a. PIGKERING,

PATENT I OFFICE.

on NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMEN'FIN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,624, dated October 24, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, T. R. PioKERrNG, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Centrifugal Governors for Steam-Engines and other Motors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure lis an axial section of a governor with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same in the plane indicated by the line m :c in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same in the plane indicated by the line y y in Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the three gures.

This invention relates to centrifugal governors in which the balls are connected with the central spindle by means of springs connected at one end with a head or collar whichhas no movement lengthwise of the spindle, and at the other end with the sliding sleeve of the governor.

It consists, n'rst, in a novel construct-ion of and mode of applying the springs, whereby the requisite force to counteract the centrifugal force of the balls is combined with the requisite degree of flexibility; secondly, in an improved method of attaching the balls to the springs 5 and, thirdly, in an improved construction of and mode of applying the guards, by which the balls are prevented from flying out farther than is desirable from the axis of revolution.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and apply my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the central spindle ofthe governor. S S are the springs, and I I the balls. The central spindle, A, is hollow, and rigidly secured in a base, B, which is fastened to any suitable fixed support.

D is a sleeve, tted to the lower part of the spindle A in such manner as to be free to revolve upon it, but confined in a direction lengthwise of the spindle between the bottom of an oil-cup, a, formed in the base B, and the bottom of a collar, b, which is secured to the spindle by a set-screw, c.

M i, ii

C is a sleeve, fitted to the upper part of the spindle A in such manner as to be capable of revolving freely and moving lengthwise upon the said spindle.

E is a collar screwed onto a screw-thread, d, cuton the exterior ofthe lower sleeve, l), and up against a shoulder, e, on the said sleeve, and secured firmly against the said shoulder by means of the pulley F, which receives the band by which the governor is driven, the said pulley being also screwed onto the thread d and serving as a jam-nut. To the collar E the lower ends of the springs S S are attached.

G is a collar screwed onto a screw-thread,f, on theexterior ot' the upper sleeve, C, and against a shoulder, g, on the said sleeve, and firmly secured against the said shoulder by a jam-nut, h, screwed onto the thread j'. To this collar the upper ends ofthe spring S S are attached.

Ihe springs and balls are supported by the collar E, and the springs support the upper collar, G, and sleeve C, andconnect them with the lower collar and sleeve, so that both sleeves and collars and the springs and balls all revolve together.

The sleeve Gis to be connected with the'rod which operates the regulating-valve by means of the nut h, or otherwise. The aforesaid rod may pass through the hollow spindle A. The movement of the balls from and toward the spindle A or axis of revolution of the governor, and consequent flexure and extension of the springs produced by the variations of centrifugal force consequent upon variations in the speed of the governor, produce a longitudinal movement of the sleeve C upon the spindle, and so effect the necessary movements of the regulating-valve.

The springs S S are composed of strips ot' steel plate, each spring consisting of two or more strips or leaves placed close together and rmly connected, both at the ends where they are attached to the collars E and Gr and at their connection with the balls I I. The terminal portions of the springs are fitted snugly into grooves i i, Fig. 3, cut in the peripheries of the collars E and G parallel with the axes thereof, and secured by screws jj, inserted through holes in the springs and screwed into tapped holes in the collars. Rings J J, of brass or iron, are then driven tightly on over the peripheries of the collars E and G, the said rings having recesses 7c 7c in their interiors opposite to the heads of the screws jj, and lead, solder, or other soft metal or alloy,p, is poured into the grooves t' i', and this tilling up the said grooves and the recesses 7c k serves both to prevent the screws from Worki n g loose and secures the rings J J irmly in place. The balls I I are each divided in a central plane into two equal parts, lm,

the inner parts, l, being grooved vertically, as shown at n a in Fig. 2, i'or the reception of the springs. These parts l have rmly secured in them central screw-studs, o,which pass through holes drilled through the springs at the middle ot' their length, and the outer parts, on, which are drilled and tapped to tit these screwstuds, are screwed thereon close up to the springs, which are thereby clamped tirmly between the two parts Z and m of the ball-s. The springs S S, being thus clamped at their ends land at the middle of their length, have their terminal and central portions always kept straight and parallel with the axis of the governor Whatever their degree of tlexure, and in their tleXure two curves are formed between their stra-ight central and terminal portions, the inward curvature neXt the straight terminal portion ot' the outer leat' ot' each spring being-ot less radius than the corresponding curvature of the corresponding portion of the inner leaf, and the outward curvature next the central straight portion of the outer leaf being of greater radius than the corresponding portion ot the inner leaf, and the differences of the curvatures of the leaves ot' each spring thus compensating for each other and obviating the buckling of the leaves, which remain in close contact with each other through their whole length under all circumstances, notwithstanding that no play is left at the ends of the leaves, as in elliptic and other springs composed of two or more leaves. By thus making the springs ot' two or more leaves they can be made ot the requisite strength Without impairing their ilexibility or rendering them so liable to break as a spring with a single leat' of the requisite thickness, as the strength of the several leaves is combined, While each bends as easily as it it Were used singly.

L L are the guards by which the balls are prevented from dying out beyond the position necessary to produce the eXtreme closing movenient ot' the valve, and so straining the springs unnecessarily. TheseA guards, which are attached to the balls themselves, are composed each ot a loop of stout Wire of suitable length and width passing around the spindle A, as shown in Fig. 2, and having its ends inserted into and riveted in holes in the inner halves ot' the balls.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The springs S S,'composed each of two or more leaves rigidly connected at their ends and centers and combined with the sleeves E and G, substantially as herein specified.

2. The balls I I, centrally divided into two parts, one ot' which is grooved to iit the spring, and the two secured together and made to clamp the several leaves of the spring by means of a central screw, o, substantially as herein specified.

3. The guards L L, constructed and attached to the balls, and operating in combination with the central spindle, substantially as herein described.

THOS. R. PICKER ING.

Witnesses:

HENRY T. BROWN, J. Wl-CooMBs. 

